Weaving shuttle



United States Patent Inventor 3/1967 Rossman l.

FOREIGN PATENTS 9/ l 929 Germany 4/1953 France Primary Examiner-Henry S. Jaudonl Atlorneys-Donald D. Benton and David T. Terry ABSTRACT: A weaving shuttle for inserting picks into a shed which comprises two side walls that are connected over one part of the periphery of the shuttle and are unconnected over the other part of the periphery to provide an opening along the other part of the periphery. The walls are spaced apart so that a weft thread of pre-determined length in the form of a winding can be held by retaining means between the walls in the interior of the shuttle. The shuttle is adapted to be pushed downwardly with its unconnected peripheral part over a winding element having a thread winding located thereon. Those edges of the side walls of the shuttle that lead when the shuttle is pushed over the winding element surrounding the opening and guide means for forming at least one outwardly widening zone within the opening positioned between the edgesand the retaining means.

PM Oct. 6, mm

Sheet Patented Oct. 6, 1970 ofCS Sheet Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,532,133

Sheet 3 013 WEAVING SHUTTLE SPECIFICATION g This invention relates to a weaving shuttle for inserting picks into a shed and more particularly to a shuttle comprising two side walls which are connected over one part of the periphery of the shuttle and are unconnected over the other part of the periphery to provide an opening along the other part of the periphery in the manner of a mussel shell, and which are spaced so that a weft thread of predetermined length in the form of a winding can be held betweenthem within the shuttle. The thread is formed as a winding on a statioriary, blade-shaped winding element and the shuttle, for the purpose of taking over the thread, is pushed with its unconnected peripheral part over the winding element and over the winding located thereon.

A method and apparatus are known for the filling of shuttles with threads taken from a bobbin in afixed position, wherein coils of thread are formed on a blade. These shuttles haveside walls which are not connected along part of their periphery and have, in their interiors, resilient linings which retain the threads. In filling the shuttles, each is pushed with the unconnected peripheral part over a winding located ,on the blade and is then drawn off from the blade in the longitudinal direction of the blade, the winding remaining inside the shuttle.

In the apparatus for producing the windings to be inserted in the shuttles of this invention, a thread-guiding eye carried on a spinning flyer rotates about a blade for the purpose of winding the thread around the blade. The blade is rotatably mounted in the flyer and is prevented from rotating independently by two channel-shaped jaws. To produce the windings to be passed to the shuttles, the turns are pushed in batches along the blade and into a delivery position. The turns must thereby slide along the two channel-shaped jaws. These jaws should not therefore lie flush upon the blade. The angular position of the blade is therefore not accurately fixed. When, for the purpose of filling the shuttles, the shuttles are pushed over the blade, it may happen that, because of the angular position of the blade not being, to some extent, properly defined, the shuttles are not pushed over the blade in the correct manner, so that the operation of the loom is interfered with and, moreover, damage can occur.

The present invention avoids these disadvantages. Thus this invention contemplates a shuttle further characterized in that those portions of the side walls of the shuttle adjacent to the edges that are leading when the shuttle is pushed over the winding element have guide means for forming at least one outwardly widening zone.

The invention will now be described in more detail by reference to the preferred embodiments and to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows, in perspective, a thread-delivery arrangement on a loom for passing threads to the shuttle of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates further details of the thread-delivery arrangement, together with the shuttle of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the dot-dash line Ill-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of another embodiment of the FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the shuttle shown in FIG.

and j m FIGTE i s a cr oss-sectional view of another embodiment of the shuttle of the present invention.

In all of the FIGS., like reference numerals designate like elements.

The loom, shown in perspective in FIG. 1 incorporates a warp beam 11. The warp threads l2 run from the beam over the guide rollers 13 and I4 and over a warp monitor 15 and. around a shed-equalizing roller 16. By means of a shaft arrangement (not illustrated) comprising approximately horizontal shafts, the warp threads 12 are formed into a shed directly beyond the shed-equalizing roller 16, an open shed 17 being present at the position of each pick-insertion element or shuttle l8 and a shed-change taking place between each two adjacent shuttles 18. This shed formation is indicated in the drawing by appropriate hatching. For. the purpose of weaving, a plurality of pick-insertion elements in the form of shuttles l8 is provided and these move simultaneously through the shed 17 one after the other. The shuttles l8 are moved forwards by the reed sheets or lamellae l9 acting as drive elements. These elements also serve to beat up the inserted weft threads against the beat-up 20. The shuttles 18 are guided in the shed 17 by the warp threads 12. The lamellae 19 are built into the actuating arrangementZl which is firmly secured to the frame 22 of the loom. Two worm shafts (not shown). are provided in thearrangement 21 for producing the movement of the reed lamellae 19. Upon rotation of the worm shafts the reed lamellae 1.9 are pivoted'about an .axis in such manner .thateach lamellae 1.9, in its movement cycle, lags a little relatively tothe lamella precedingit. The lamellae 19 as awhole therebyprovide a .wave movement which progresses'from right to left in FIG. I and which carries the shuttles 18 along. Thesheds 17 also move at the same .speed from left to right. The woven material 23 is rolled on to the cloth beam .26 via the pull-in roller 24 and the pressure roller 25. A temple isschematically indicated by reference numeral 27. The weft thread 35 required for weaving is taken from a bobbin28.

On the right-hand side of the loom there is provided a thread-delivery arrangement 30, 33 for supplying the shuttles l8 and for filling the shuttles with weft thread. This arrangement is again illustrated in FIG. 2 ingreater detail. The arrangement comprises a discharge box 30 from which'the shuttles are delivered in a continuous sequence. The discharge box 30 is removed from the view shown in FIG. 2 and is shown only in broken lines to give a clearer illustration of the shuttle 18. The shuttles l8 emerging from the discharge box 30 are pushed, in the direction of the arrow 53, over a winding 31 which is made up by a weft thread of predetermined length and which is located on the blade 32. The weft thread windings 31 are formed continuously on the blade 32. For this purpose, there is provided the rotor 33 which has an eye 34. The thread 35 supplied from the bobbin 28 shown in FIG. 1 passes through a hole 36 drilled in the rotor 33 and then through the eye 34. The thread subsequently is wound on the blade 32. The needle 37, which serves to displace the windings along the blade 32, is movable forwardly through the slot 38 in the blade 32 and then along the slot to the position designated by reference numeral 51. The blade 32 is rotatably mounted on the rotor 35 by the ball-bearings 39. The blade 32 is prevented from rotating independently by means of the two channel-shaped jaws 40.

In the interior of each of the shuttles l8, there are provided retaining means in the form of two insents or linings 41 which are carried on the side walls 42 (see FIG. 3). When the shuttle 18 is pushed over the blade 32, these inserts come to bear against both sides of the blade. To enable the shuttle 18 to be pushed over the blade 32, its side walls 42 are not connected with each other along the lower part of the periphery of the shuttle, i.e., the connection between the side walls extends only along the upper part of the shuttle as shown by the broken line 46. The discharge box 30 is not shown in FIG. 3.

When the loom shown in FIG. I is operating, the shuttles 18 move continuously one after the other from right to left. At the same time, the rotor 33 rotates without interruption and continuously lays turns of the thread 35 around the part or portion 32" of the blade 32. Here, the part 32" is designated as that portion defined by the inclined edges 49. The turns slide leftwards along the inclined edges 49 to the left end thereof. The part or portion 32' of the blade 32 that is connected at this point is likewise tapered (though very slightly) so that theturns sliding down the edges 49 at the point at which part 32' begins thereby push to the left the turn (or turns) already present there when they collide with it (or them). When the adjacent turns are present onthe blade part 32 in a number such that they correspond to the prescribed length of weft thread necessary for the insertion of a pick, the

needle 37 is pushed forward through the slot 38 in the blade 32, i.e., moved outward away from the plane of the view shown in FIG. 2, and is then displaced to the leftv All the turns are thereby moved to the left into a delivery position where the winding 31 thus formed is taken over by the next shuttle 18 standing in readiness.

The winding designated by the reference numeral 31 is located in the delivery position. For the purpose oftaking over a winding 31, the shuttle 18 is pushed downwards over the blade 32 in the direction of the arrow 53, both inserts 41 coming to lie symmetrically on both sides of the blade portion 32 (see also FIG. 3). The shuttle 18 is then withdrawn from the blade 32 by being moved leftwards in FIG. 2 in the longitudinal direction of the blade 32. The winding 31 adheres to the linings 41 and thereby remains orderly arranged in the shuttle 18.

Due to the rotation of the rotor 33 and particularly to the winding of the thread 35 onto the blade 32, the latter, which is only held by the ball bearing 39, is subjected to a certain rotary force. The channel-shaped jaws 40 are provided to prevent rotation of the blade. When the thread windings are pushed leftwards by means of the needle 37, these windings must slide through between the jaws 40 and the blade portion 32'. To render this possible, the jaws 40 should not bear hard onto the blade portion 32. This, however, may result in the angular position of the blade 32 not being precisely fixed. If the shuttle 18 is then pushed down over the blade 32, it can happen in such circumstances that a shuttle 18 does not come to lie symmetrically over the blade 32. For example, one side of the shuttle 18 may collide with the blade 32. This collision could cause damage to the shuttle, the blade, etc.

To avoid this, the shuttle 18 can be in the form of an elongated, U-shaped or mussel-shaped, body as shown in FIG. 3. At their free end, each of the side walls 42 of the elongated body has thickened portion 43 which widens outwardly, i.e., towards the exterior of the shuttle 18. Each thickened portion 43 extends in the longitudinal direction of the shuttle 18 as can be seen from FIG. 2, and over the greater part of that edge of the shuttle 18 which is leading when it is pushed down over the blade. The opposite vicinal faces 44 of these thickened portions 43 form an outwardly widening zone shaped like a wedge.

As a result of the shape described, two projections 45 extending towards each other are formed. These projections ad vantageously prevent the inserts 41 from being pulled away from their points of attachment during the repeated sliding of the shuttle 18 over the blade portion 32'.

In the embodiment of the shuttle shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, only the two end portions of those edges of the shuttle 18' that are leading when it is pushed over the blade 32 have thickened portions 50. The interior of the shuttle 18 is again provided with a lining 41 for retaining the thread windings. The cross section of the thickened portions corresponds exactly to that of the thickened portions illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 3 thus also illustrates the cross section for the shuttle 18 of FIG. 4 on the line III'-III. To further illustrate this embodiment, FIG. shows a view of the shuttle 18' taken from below that shown in FIG. 4. By noting the reference numerals given, the form of this shuttle 18' can be clearly seen.

A still further embodiment of the shuttle is shown in FIG. 6. In this FIG., those edges of the shuttle 18" that lead when it is pushed over the blade 32 have a widening zone which is defined by outwardly curved portions 48 of the side walls 42. The outwardly bent portions 48 again form two faces or walls 54, arranged in wedge-shaped formation, and two projections 45". The projections 45" preferably extend towards each other to an extent roughly equal to the thickness of the inserts or linings 41. This construction thus enables the inserts to be very well protected against damage. The outwardly curved portions 48 extend over the entire length of the lowermost edge of the shuttle 18''. Also, it will be appreciated that the curved portions may only be present at the two ends of these ed es in a manner similar to the portions 50 shown in FIG. 4.

t Wlll be appreciated that the weaving shuttles of this invention may be formed of molded plastic, metal and like materials and that the linings, bonded or otherwise secured within the interiors of the shuttles, may be made of satin, bristles, fur or like fibrous materials.

Iclaim:

1. A shuttle for inserting a weft thread into a shed of a loom which comprises an elongated U-shaped body having two spaced side walls each being connected to the other along a first edge and together forming an opening between the remaining opposite edges thereof, said side walls defining opposed and spaced interior surfaces, retaining means secured to each of said interior surfaces for holding a weft thread of a predetermined length in the form of a winding therebetween the space between the side walls being sufficient to allow said shuttle to be placed over an edge of a blade-shaped winding element having a thread winding thereon so as to position the winding between said retaining means on the interior surfaces, and guide means positioned between the opposite edges and the retaining means on each of said side walls forming at least one zone which widens outwardly from the retaining means to said opposite edges; said guide means acting to prevent the winding element from colliding with the retaining means when said shuttle is placed over said winding element and said thread winding being retained within said shuttle, upon removal of the shuttle from said winding element, in position for insertion into a shed.

2. The shuttle of claim l in which said retaining means comprises a fibrous lining and said guide means comprise projections extending inwardly within the opening in said body to an extent approximately equal to the thickness of one of said linings.

3. The shuttle of claim 1 in which said guide means provides an outwardly widening zone that extends in the longitudinal direction of the shuttle and over the greater portion of said opposite edges.

4. The shuttle of claim 1 in which said guide means forms two outwardly widening zones which extend along the opposite edges.

5. The shuttle of claim 1 in which said guide means comprises at least one thickened portion of each of said side walls, said thickened portions projecting inwardly and the opposite vicinal faces of said thickened portions forming surfaces which together define said outwardly widening zone.

6. The shuttle of claim 5 in which the thickened portions project inwardly towards each other along the opposite edges.

7. The shuttle of claim 1 in which said guide means includes outwardly curved portions of said side walls adjacent to said opposite edges, said curved portions each extending outwardly away from each other and having a projection extending inwardly into said opening. 

